1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns determination of the time of ovulation in women and more particularly relates to a home-testing kit easily used by women having no technical training to determine their day of ovulation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Historically, ovulation time has been guessed on the basis of menstrual time or "mittelschmerz" (a sharp pain believed to be felt by some women at the moment of ovulation). More modern methods of determination include measurement of basal body temperature (taken before arising in the morning, where it shows a slight elevation at the time of ovulation) and, most notably and reliably, by determination of the urinary concentration of a hormone associated with ovulation.
Concentration of a specific enzyme in a body fluid is also a useful indicator. For example, Foster in U.S. Pat. No. 3,406,015 describes detection of the presence of peroxidase in the saliva of a woman. Wegner in U.S. Pat. No. 3,117,569 and Melges in U.S. Pat. No. 3,037,496 describe testing apparatus for detecting sugar in a woman's cervix using a "TESTAPE." French patent 2,305,161 describes detection of N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase in biological fluids.
Prosser et al in the Australian Journal Exp. Biol. Med. Sci. 61:265, 1983 describe elevation of glucose levels in saliva six days prior to ovulation. They state that "from a practical standpoint, an effective method of detecting the pre-ovulatory functional changes in the salivary gland may offer a convenient predictor of fertility in women."